The Norns ( , plural: ) are a group of deities in Norse mythology responsible for shaping the course of human destinies.Nordisk familjebok (1907) The Norns are often represented as three goddesses known as Urðr, Verðandi, and Skuld, who weave the threads of fate and tend to the world tree, Yggdrasil, ensuring it stays alive at the center of the cosmos.The article Nornor in Nordisk familjebok (1913).
Etymology The origin of the name is uncertain; it may derive from a word meaning 'to twine', which would refer to their twining the thread of fate. Bek-Pedersen suggests that the word has relation to the Swedish dialect word (), a verb that means 'communicate secretly'. This interpretation relates to the perception of norns as shadowy, background figures who only really ever reveal their fateful secrets to people as their fates come to pass.
The name (Old English: , 'weird') means 'fate'. and are etymological cognates, a situation that does not mean necessarily that and share the same semantic quality of "fate" over time. Both and are derived from the Old Norse verb , 'to become', which itself derives from Proto-Germanic *wurdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wrti-, which is a verbal abstract from the root *wert- ("to turn") Often, it is asserted that while derives from the past tense ('that which became or happened'), derives from the present tense of ('that which is happening'). is derived from the Old Norse verb , "need/ought to be/shall be"; its meaning is "that which should become, or that needs to occur". Due to this, it has often been inferred that the three norns are in some way connected with the past, present and future respectively, but it has been disputed that their names really imply a temporal distinction. It has been emphasised that the words do not in their own right denote chronological periods in Old Norse but rather the idea of past, present, and future in terms of fate itself.Bek-Pedersen, Karen. 2011. The Norns: Representatives of Fate in Old Norse Tradition. In: Monaghan, Patricia. Goddesses in World Culture. V.2 P.271.
Relation to other Germanic female deities
There is no clear distinction between norns, fylgjas, hamingjas, and valkyries, nor with the generic term dísir. Moreover, artistic license permitted such terms to be used for mortal women in Old Norse poetry. To quote Snorri Sturluson's Skáldskaparmál on the various names used for women: Woman is also metaphorically called by the names of the Asynjur or the Valkyrs or Norns or women of supernatural kind.Skáldskaparmál in translation by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur (1916), at Google Books.
Attestations
There are a number of surviving Old Norse sources that relate to the norns. The most important sources are the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda. The latter contains pagan poetry where the Norns are frequently referred to, while the former contains pagan poetry as well as retellings, descriptions and commentaries by the 12th and 13th century Icelandic chieftain and scholar Snorri Sturluson.
Skaldic poetry A skaldic reference to the norns appears in Hvini's poem in Ynglingatal 24 found in Ynglingasaga 47, where King Halfdan is put to rest by his men at Borró. This reference brings in the phrase "norna dómr" which means "judgment of the nornir". In most cases, when the norns pass judgment, it means death to those who have been judged - in this case, Halfdan. Along with being associated with being bringers of death, Bek-Pedersen suggests that this phrase brings in a quasi-legal aspect to the nature of the norns. This legal association is employed quite frequently within skaldic and eddic sources. This phrase can also be seen as a threat, as death is the final and inevitable decision that the norns can make with regard to human life.
Ok til Þings Þriðja jǫfri Hvedðrungs mær ór heimi bauð pás Halfdan, sás Holtum bjó, norna dóms of notit hafði. Ok buðlung á Borrói sigrhafendr síðan fólu.And to a meeting Hveðrungr's maid called the third king from the world, at the time when Halfdan, he who lived at Holt, had embraced the judgment of the nornir; and at Borró the victorious men later did hide the king.
Poetic Edda The Poetic Edda is valuable in representing older material in poetry from which Snorri Sturluson tapped information in the Prose Edda. Like Gylfaginning, the Poetic Edda mentions the existence of many lesser norns beside the three main norns. Moreover, it also agrees with Gylfaginning by telling that they were of several races and that the dwarven norns were the daughters of Dvalin. It also suggests that the three main norns were giantesses (female Jotuns).
Fáfnismál contains a discussion between the hero Sigurd and the dragon Fafnir who is dying from a mortal wound from Sigurd. The hero asks Fafnir of many things, among them the nature of the norns. Fafnir explains that they are many and from several races:
Sigurðr kvað: 12. "Segðu mér, Fáfnir, alls þik fróðan kveða ok vel margt vita, hverjar ro þær nornir, er nauðgönglar ro ok kjósa mæðr frá mögum." - Fáfnir kvað: 13. "Sundrbornar mjök segi ek nornir vera, eigu-t þær ætt saman; sumar eru áskunngar, sumar alfkunngar, sumar dætr Dvalins."Fáfnismál Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.Sigurth spake: 12. "Tell me then, Fafnir, for wise thou art famed, And much thou knowest now: Who are the Norns who are helpful in need, And the babe from the mother bring?" - Fafnir spake: 13. "Of many births the Norns must be, Nor one in race they were; Some to gods, others to elves are kin, And Dvalin's daughters some."Fafnismol in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.
It appears from Völuspá and Vafþrúðnismál that the three main norns were not originally goddesses but giants (Jotuns), and that their arrival ended the early days of bliss for the gods, but that they come for the good of humankind.
Völuspá relates that three giants of huge might are reported to have arrived to the gods from Jotunheim:
8. Tefldu í túni, teitir váru, var þeim vettergis vant ór gulli, uns þrjár kvámu þursa meyjar ámáttkar mjök ór Jötunheimum.Völuspá Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.8. In their dwellings at peace they played at tables, Of gold no lack did the gods then know,-- Till thither came up giant-maids three, Huge of might, out of Jotunheim.Völuspá in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.
Vafþrúðnismál probably refers to the norns when it talks of maiden giants who arrive to protect the people of Earth as protective spirits (hamingjas):
49. "Þríar þjóðár falla þorp yfir meyja Mögþrasis; hamingjur einar þær er í heimi eru, þó þær með jötnum alask."Vafþrúðnismál Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.49. O'er people's dwellings three descend of Mögthrasir's maidens, the sole Hamingiur who are in the world, although with Jötuns nurtured.The lay of Vafthrúdnir in translation by Benjamin Thorpe (1866), at Google Books.
The Völuspá contains the names of the three main Norns referring to them as maidens like Vafþrúðnismál probably does:
20. Þaðan koma meyjar margs vitandi þrjár ór þeim sæ, er und þolli stendr; Urð hétu eina, aðra Verðandi, - skáru á skíði, - Skuld ina þriðju; þær lög lögðu, þær líf kuru alda börnum, örlög seggja.20. Thence come the maidens mighty in wisdom, Three from the dwelling down 'neath the tree; Urth is one named, Verthandi the next,-- On the wood they scored,-- and Skuld the third. Laws they made there, and life allotted To the sons of men, and set their fates.Lays of the gods in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.
Helgakviða Hundingsbana I
The norns visited each newly born child to allot his or her future, and in Helgakviða Hundingsbana I, the hero Helgi Hundingsbane has just been born and norns arrive at the homestead:
2. Nótt varð í bæ, nornir kómu, þær er öðlingi aldr of skópu; þann báðu fylki frægstan verða ok buðlunga beztan þykkja. - 3. Sneru þær af afli örlögþáttu, þá er borgir braut í Bráluni; þær of greiddu gullin símu ok und mánasal miðjan festu. - 4. Þær austr ok vestr enda fálu, þar átti lofðungr land á milli; brá nift Nera á norðrvega einni festi, ey bað hon halda.Helgakviða Hundingsbana I Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.2. 'Twas night in the dwelling, and Norns there came, Who shaped the life of the lofty one; They bade him most famed of fighters all And best of princes ever to be. - 3. Mightily wove they the web of fate, While Bralund's towns were trembling all; And there the golden threads they wove, And in the moon's hall fast they made them. - 4. East and west the ends they hid, In the middle the hero should have his land; And Neri's kinswoman northward cast A chain, and bade it firm ever to be.The First Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.
Helgakviða Hundingsbana II In Helgakviða Hundingsbana II, Helgi Hundingsbane blames the norns for the fact that he had to kill Sigrún's father Högni and brother Bragi in order to wed her: 26 "Er-at þér at öllu, alvitr, gefit, - þó kveð ek nökkvi nornir valda -: fellu í morgun at Frekasteini Bragi ok Högni, varð ek bani þeira.Völsungakviða in forna Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling."Maid, not fair is all thy fortune, The NorrisTypographical error for Norns, cf. the text in Old Norse. I blame that this should be; This morn there fell at Frekastein Bragi and Hogni beneath my hand.The Second Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.
Reginsmál As Snorri Sturluson stated in Gylfaginning, one's fate depended on the Norn's good or bad will. In Reginsmál, the water dwelling dwarf Andvari blames his plight on an evil norn, presumably one of the daughters of Dvalin:
2. "Andvari ek heiti, Óinn hét minn faðir, margan hef ek fors of farit; aumlig norn skóp oss í árdaga, at ek skylda í vatni vaða."Reginsmál Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.2. "Andvari am I, and Oin my father, In many a fall have I fared; An evil Norn in olden days Doomed me In waters to dwell."The Ballad of Regin in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.
Sigurðarkviða hin skamma Another account blaming the Norns for misfortune occurs in Sigurðarkviða hin skamma, where the valkyrie Brynhild blames malevolent Norns for her yearning for the embrace of Sigurd: 7. Orð mæltak nú, iðrumk eftir þess: kván er hans Guðrún, en ek Gunnars; ljótar nornir skópu oss langa þrá."Sigurðarkviða in skamma Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling.7. "The word I have spoken; soon shall I rue it, His wife is Guthrun, and Gunnar's am I; Ill Norns set for me long desire."The Short Lay of Sigurth in translation by Henry Adams Bellows (1936), at Sacred Texts.
Guðrúnarkviða II
In Guðrúnarkviða II, the Norns actively enter the series of events by informing Atli in a dream that his wife would kill him. Brynhild's solution was to have Gunnarr and his brothers, the lords of the Burgundians, kill Sigurd and afterwards to commit suicide in order to join Sigurd in the afterlife. Her brother Atli (Attila the Hun) avenged her death by killing the lords of the Burgundians, but since he was married to their sister Guðrún, Atli would soon be killed by her. The description of the dream begins with this stanza: "Svá mik nýliga nornir vekja," - vílsinnis spá vildi, at ek réða, - "hugða ek þik, Guðrún Gjúka dóttir, læblöndnum hjör leggja mik í gögnum."39. "Now from sleep the Norns have waked me With visions of terror,-- To thee will I tell them; Methought thou, Guthrun, Gjuki's daughter, With poisoned blade didst pierce my body."
Guðrúnarhvöt In Guðrúnarhvöt, after having killed both her husband and son, Guðrún blames the Norns themselves for her misfortune. In this excerpt Guðrún talks of trying to escaping the wrath of the Norns by making an attempt on her own life, attempting to escape the fate they had woven for her: